ort

 

 

 

= Brief Ker

CHICAGO, U.S. A.
MAY 18 to 22, 1944

 

(Sop)
I) L472

 

35TH ANNUAL CONVENTION
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

 

 

 

 

 

A Streamlined Meeting

Rotary International’s thirty-fifth annual
Convention was conclusive evidence that
the Rotary organization is able to meet
any crisis. When it was found that—be-
cause of the tremendous increase in war-
time transportation problems—it would
be impracticable to hold the Convention
either in Omaha, Nebraska, where it had
been originally scheduled, or in Chicago,
it was decided to limit the meeting to
the present officers and incoming officers
of RI, the Past Presidents of RI, the rep-
resentatives on the Council on Legisla-
tion, and others designated as participants
in the International Assembly.

These 230 officers and delegates came
to Chicago from twenty-five countries to
preserve the continuity of Rotary—to re-
view the accomplishments of the organi-
zation during the past year—and to make
plans for an outstanding year of Rotary
service worldwide in 1944-45.

x x

Thursday Evening
Session

Rotary’s 1944 “Homecoming” Conven-
tion was convened Thursday evening
by Convention Committee Chairman Stan-
ley Long of Seattle, Washington. The
first plenary session opened most im-
pressively with the “Lord’s Prayer’ sung
in the rich baritone voice of Gunner
Charles Hovey of the Canadian Army.
Greetings were then extended to the Con-
vention by President Stan Clague of “Old
No. 1,” and Immediate Past President
Fernando Carbajal of Lima, Peru, re-
sponded with praise for the hospitality of
the Chicago Club.

In his message of greeting, Paul Harris
spoke of the progress which Rotary 1s
making in spite of the times, and em-
phasized the fact that the loss of Clubs
due to the war has been far more than
offset by the organization of new Clubs
throughout those parts of the world where
Rotary is still unhampered in its func-
tioning.

Rotarian Andres Pastoriza, President of
the Rotary. Club of Trujillo in the Do-
minican Republic, then came to the Con-
vention platform and on behalf of the
President of his country decorated Paul
with the Heraldic Order of Cristobal
Colon for his outstanding service to man-

kind. The great ovation which was ac-
corded Paul was shared by his beloved
Jean, who spoke briefly of her great
pleasure at having another opportunity to
meet friends from all parts of the world,
and particularly to meet the splendid
group from the Ibero-American countries,
many of which she had visited on her
travels with Paul.

The name of President Nominee Rich-
ard H. Wells was then presented to the
Convention. Past President Carbajal’s
motion that the united ballot of the Con-
vention be cast for Dick, which was sec-
onded by Director John [lott of Welling-
ton, New Zealand, was unanimously car-
ried. After Dick expressed his thanks to
the Convention for the great honor be-
stowed upon him, the -Convention fol-
lowed its annual custom of electing Rufus
F. Chapin of Chicago to serve another
term—his 32nd—as Treasurer of RI.

One of the most impressive features of
the evening’s program was the memorial
ceremony in honor of Rotarians who have
made the supreme sacrifice for their coun-
try in military and civic service. With the
lights of the Convention hall darkened, a
squad of four United States Marines, to a
fanfare of trumpets, marched down the
center aisle to the stage, carrying a huge
basket of flowers. Then Director Bart
Peak of Lexington, Kentucky, in the
warm glow of flickering candles, solemnly
paid tribute to the departed Rotarians
with a recitation of “Crossing the Bar”
and “They Have Not Died.’ Gunner
Hovey’s singing of “There Is No Death”
and the sounding of taps brought this
most impressive memorial ceremony to a
close.

President Charlie Wheeler then stepped
to the rostrum and after presenting his
Board of Directors and paying tribute to
the loyal support which they had given
him in coping with the many problems of
a difficult year, told of the splendid prog-
ress which had been made in spite of those
problems. Then in a dynamic address
marked by his characteristic courage and
optimism, he cited examples of how Ro-
tary Clubs which have suffered from the
ravages of war are carrying on in various
parts of the Eastern Hemisphere and
called upon all Rotarians to peer into the
future and to prepare Rotary for oppor-
tunities that still lie ahead—opportunities
such as are presented by the Work Pile
plan, the Rotary Foundation, and the or-
ganization of a postwar world in which
civilized men will fight as hard to combat

crime, poverty, disease, famine, greed,
and all the other peacetime enemies of
civilization, as they are now fighting their
more tangible wartime enemies.

xk *

Friday Evening Session

Following the invocation pronounced by
Past President Tom Davis of Butte, Mon-
tana, the second plenary session of the
Convention opened Friday evening with
an address by Past President Armando de
Arruda Pereira of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in
which he told of the splendid war effort
which is being made by his country and
emphasized the strong ties which bind
Brazil to the other United Nations at pres-
ent—strong ties which will become in-
creasingly stronger in the future. He
spoke, too, of the postwar problems facing
Brazil and other Ibero-American countries,
stating that the main problem will be to
increase the national income in order to
provide a higher standard of living for
the people generally.

An “International Kaleidoscope” —a
vivid and colorful picture of Rotary
throughout the world—proved to be one
of the outstanding thrills of the Conven-
tion. Tom Davis conducted the Kaleido-
scope and first called upon Director John
Ilott of Wellington, New Zealand, who
sketched briefly and _ skillfully the con-
tributions New Zealand is making to the
war effort and gave a few highlights of
the magnificent progress that Rotary has
made in New Zealand during the past two
years, with a tremendous increase in the
number of Rotary Clubs and in the work
being done by the Clubs. Particularly inter-
esting was his story concerning “Heritage”
—a movement promoted by the New
Zealand Clubs to help the boys whose
fathers have given their lives for the cause
of freedom.

Rotarian Kish Naoroji of Jamshedpur,
India, told of the rapid growth of Rotary
in India and Ceylon and gave a brief de-
scription of India, its ancient culture, its
enormous wealth, and the multiplicity of
problems to be overcome in order to raise
the general standard of living to a level
commensurate with the natural resources.

The next turn of the Kaleidoscope car-
ried the audience from the mystic Orient
to the Far North when Rotarian Edy
Velander of Stockholm, Sweden, told of
the difficult conditions under which Ro-
tary Clubs in Sweden are operating. The